Dbj77
Member
Hi Ohmman- cool posts! Do you charge to 100% whenever you can on these road trips, or is that frowned upon?
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Canuck
Well-Known Member
He charged to 100% when he left my vacation home. It's not frowned upon as long as you don't let it sit there long and when you're travelling that's usually not an issue. I doubt it makes much difference long term since the temperature is controlled.
Getting around the Olympic Peninsula was not exactly smooth. I knew I wanted to climb to Hurricane Ridge, and since Sequim was not yet open I was able to charge at a CHAdeMO at a Nissan dealership. That night, we camped at Sol Duc, which has full hook ups and 50 amp service. We left with a full charge, and stopped in Forks at the RV park. There was some trouble charging as the breaker continue to flip off. I knew that the Kalaloch campground had a 14-50 listed on PlugShare. I also knew that it would be a risk whether or not I could charge there, but eventually decided we would give it a shot. One hour there while walking the beach would give us enough breathing room to make it to Aberdeen.
I found the plug, plugged in, and was immediately approached by a ranger who told me to unplug. Her words to me were, "you are stealing from the federal government." I explained that I would be happy to drop money in the campground slot, and described what I was trying to accomplish with this trip. She was having none of it and was adamantly opposed to my doing anything relating to getting power from that campsite.
My back up plan was in Lake Quinault. There was a wall outlet available at the lodge, and we could take a hike through the rain forest for a few hours while the car got enough of a boost to get us closer to Aberdeen. Arriving at the lodge, I found that the wall plugs, labeled as EV plugs, were inoperable. Two maintenance personnel attempted to assist me in getting them back online, but we were unable to do so. Eventually, they offered to run an extension cord into the shop so that I could charge. At this point, I had had enough. I had unhooked the trailer both times to charge and had gone out of my way slightly, burning up extra range. We hiked the rain forest, and I drove from 38 to 40 mph all the way to Aberdeen. We arrived, as I noted in the previous post, with enough range.
My plan the entire time was to drive until my car's rated range was equal to the distance to the Supercharger. I knew I could drive slowly enough in the X to achieve better than rated range if unhitched. Once I reached that point, I would unhitch the trailer, drive to the Supercharger, charge enough to come back and get the trailer and return to the supercharger, and then finish my charge. I'm thankful it didn't come to that, but it was a completely viable back up.
The lesson learned was that I should not have relied on a risky charger in no man's land. Probably obvious ahead of time, but I was very determined to see the entirety of the peninsula. Despite my issues, I'm glad I went, because it is a gorgeous park. I will keep my opinion on the park's rangers to myself.
I found the plug, plugged in, and was immediately approached by a ranger who told me to unplug. Her words to me were, "you are stealing from the federal government." I explained that I would be happy to drop money in the campground slot, and described what I was trying to accomplish with this trip. She was having none of it and was adamantly opposed to my doing anything relating to getting power from that campsite.
My back up plan was in Lake Quinault. There was a wall outlet available at the lodge, and we could take a hike through the rain forest for a few hours while the car got enough of a boost to get us closer to Aberdeen. Arriving at the lodge, I found that the wall plugs, labeled as EV plugs, were inoperable. Two maintenance personnel attempted to assist me in getting them back online, but we were unable to do so. Eventually, they offered to run an extension cord into the shop so that I could charge. At this point, I had had enough. I had unhooked the trailer both times to charge and had gone out of my way slightly, burning up extra range. We hiked the rain forest, and I drove from 38 to 40 mph all the way to Aberdeen. We arrived, as I noted in the previous post, with enough range.
My plan the entire time was to drive until my car's rated range was equal to the distance to the Supercharger. I knew I could drive slowly enough in the X to achieve better than rated range if unhitched. Once I reached that point, I would unhitch the trailer, drive to the Supercharger, charge enough to come back and get the trailer and return to the supercharger, and then finish my charge. I'm thankful it didn't come to that, but it was a completely viable back up.
The lesson learned was that I should not have relied on a risky charger in no man's land. Probably obvious ahead of time, but I was very determined to see the entirety of the peninsula. Despite my issues, I'm glad I went, because it is a gorgeous park. I will keep my opinion on the park's rangers to myself.
Sorry for your troubles. For such a beautiful place, it is really a tech desert with little cell service or civilization.
I have a question -- in campground, the typical electrical fixture has both 50A and 30A outlets. Can both be used simultaneously? Can you plug the trailer into 30A and charge the car at the same time at 50A?
I have a question -- in campground, the typical electrical fixture has both 50A and 30A outlets. Can both be used simultaneously? Can you plug the trailer into 30A and charge the car at the same time at 50A?
Yes. I typically plug both in and dial the car down. I assume that the pedestal is wired for 50A service and adjust accordingly. If I'm not using power in the camper, I'll pull all 40A.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
You're a pioneer and breaking trail for others to follow. If I had a coonskin cap I would give it to you.
Canuck
Well-Known Member
You're a pioneer and breaking trail for others to follow. If I had a coonskin cap I would give it to you.
I tried to give him a beaver pelt to take home -- he just had to get it off the beaver. Actually, when he was visiting me, a beaver came right up on the beach in front of the house and stood up for us to all watch, as he grabbed a branch from shore. It was the perfect Canadian scene.
Happy Canada Day tomorrow... 150 years old! So young when you think about it.
Canada and Canadians were awfully good to us on our visit. I join you all in celebration tomorrow.
3Victoria
Active Member
We made it home last night. Trip totals include non-towing miles driven around our destinations. I am in the process of downloading my TeslaFi data, adjusting it for accuracy, and collating towing vs. non-towing totals. But for now a quick data summary:
3949 miles
2138 kWh
541 Wh/mi
Chargers visited not including campsites and destinations (H = hitched, U = unhitched, UA = unhitched already - not done for the purpose of charging):
Vacaville SC (U)
Corning SC (U)
Mt. Shasta SC (U)
Klamath Falls SC (H)
Bend SC (UA)
The Dalles SC (U)
Arlington CHAdeMO (H)
Kennewick SC (UA)
Coeur d'Alene SC (H)
Superior SC (H)
Fort MacLeod SC (H)
Calgary SC (U)
Canmore SC (U)
Golden SC (H)
Revelstoke SC (H)
Kamloops SC (H)
Merritt SC (H)
Hope SC (U)
Burlington SC (H, but wish I'd U)
Edmonds City EV Plug x3 (UA)
Dan Wilder Nissan Port Angeles CHAdeMO (U)
Forks 101 RV Park for charging (H)
Aberdeen SC (H)
Seaside SC (H)
Lincoln City SC (H)
Bandon SC (H)
Crescent City SC (H)
Eureka SC (H)
Organic Grace EV Plugshare (H)
Willits Police Station Plugshare (H)
Ukiah SC (H)
Consumption at 55mph - 550-570Wh/mi in calm conditions.
My towing numbers are going to be all over the place because quite honestly I drove based on my charge. In Canada, we had very close Supercharger spacing and I was able to drive 100 kph (62 mph) comfortably. But in places where spacing was very wide, I went as slowly as 40 mph. For that reason, I'm afraid my data isn't going to be extremely useful.
What I learned was to use rated miles as my display, and if my rated miles were double the actual mileage, I was going to be fine driving normally. That equates to approximately 640Wh/mi (320Wh/mi x 2) and would give me a buffer for arrival. As I got closer to my destination, I'd sometimes speed up as I realized I'd have to consume an awful lot more than double the normal energy in order to run out of charge.
I've got a lot of thoughts from this trip and will try to find some time to summarize them. It was a blast, and I've got a lot more appreciation for the X as a result. Tesla's going to have to take towing input seriously because it's really a tremendous tow vehicle.
3949 miles
2138 kWh
541 Wh/mi
Chargers visited not including campsites and destinations (H = hitched, U = unhitched, UA = unhitched already - not done for the purpose of charging):
Vacaville SC (U)
Corning SC (U)
Mt. Shasta SC (U)
Klamath Falls SC (H)
Bend SC (UA)
The Dalles SC (U)
Arlington CHAdeMO (H)
Kennewick SC (UA)
Coeur d'Alene SC (H)
Superior SC (H)
Fort MacLeod SC (H)
Calgary SC (U)
Canmore SC (U)
Golden SC (H)
Revelstoke SC (H)
Kamloops SC (H)
Merritt SC (H)
Hope SC (U)
Burlington SC (H, but wish I'd U)
Edmonds City EV Plug x3 (UA)
Dan Wilder Nissan Port Angeles CHAdeMO (U)
Forks 101 RV Park for charging (H)
Aberdeen SC (H)
Seaside SC (H)
Lincoln City SC (H)
Bandon SC (H)
Crescent City SC (H)
Eureka SC (H)
Organic Grace EV Plugshare (H)
Willits Police Station Plugshare (H)
Ukiah SC (H)
Consumption at 55mph - 550-570Wh/mi in calm conditions.
My towing numbers are going to be all over the place because quite honestly I drove based on my charge. In Canada, we had very close Supercharger spacing and I was able to drive 100 kph (62 mph) comfortably. But in places where spacing was very wide, I went as slowly as 40 mph. For that reason, I'm afraid my data isn't going to be extremely useful.
What I learned was to use rated miles as my display, and if my rated miles were double the actual mileage, I was going to be fine driving normally. That equates to approximately 640Wh/mi (320Wh/mi x 2) and would give me a buffer for arrival. As I got closer to my destination, I'd sometimes speed up as I realized I'd have to consume an awful lot more than double the normal energy in order to run out of charge.
I've got a lot of thoughts from this trip and will try to find some time to summarize them. It was a blast, and I've got a lot more appreciation for the X as a result. Tesla's going to have to take towing input seriously because it's really a tremendous tow vehicle.
@ohmman thanks for all your efforts documenting your trip! Very useful for this future Model X trailer tower.
I'm not sure exactly where to put this, so I'll just post it here. It appears there are two new EVgo CHAdeMO (40kW) chargers going in on the climb up I-80 to Tahoe. Dutch Flat and Emigrant Gap. Either one of these would make a good top-up for us after we charge in Rocklin to ensure we can crest the summit at Donner. I think an X 100D would be able to make it with my camper and no top-up, but I'll just add that to the list of things the 100D can do that my X can't.
I have collated and adjusted some of the TeslaFi logs, separating out my towing trips from my untethered trips at the destinations. Currently TeslaFi seems to have a bug where I can only download the trip summary for the first 15 results, but I'm working on that. I had a few locations where the Tesla was out of service, so my logs were either incorrect or missing. I omitted those from the analysis. Those areas were between Two Medicine and the Canadian border, between Merritt and near Hope (with the byway of @Canuck's lake house also off of service), and much of the Olympic peninsula.
The remaining data together are as follows:
3025.8 logged miles
5889.7 rated miles used
72 hours 6 minutes of driving
1813.7 kWh used
599 Wh/mi average
Once I can download the data, I'll post it here in tabular form so that anyone interested in individual legs can get the consumption information.
The remaining data together are as follows:
3025.8 logged miles
5889.7 rated miles used
72 hours 6 minutes of driving
1813.7 kWh used
599 Wh/mi average
Once I can download the data, I'll post it here in tabular form so that anyone interested in individual legs can get the consumption information.
McManX
Member
That sounds about right. It is amazing how quickly a few stops will drag down the average speed of a trip. Most highway travel was at 55 mph, with stints up to 62 and others as low as 38 (Olympic situation).
Next time for sure. Thanks for reading..
Completely worthless scatter plot of my consumption vs. average trip speed. Obviously doesn't account for slow average speed due to traffic, construction, traffic lights, etc. Also doesn't control for elevation, wind, rain. Enjoy the worthlessness!
I may download the raw data and try to tease out sections that have consistent speeds and plot them against consumption. That should be at least somewhat more valuable.
I may download the raw data and try to tease out sections that have consistent speeds and plot them against consumption. That should be at least somewhat more valuable.
Wind also would be a big factor with that much drag. At the speeds you drive when towing, drag is not much of a factor. A headwind would be an effective increase in speed that you are not including in these data.
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